Nearly 30 years after the infamous incident, Mitt Romney is still dogged by
his decision to put his family's Irish setter in a kennel on top of the car
during a holiday road trip.

The then-private equity boss put Seamus on the roof during a 12-hour drive to Canada in 1983, arguing there wasn't room in the station wagon among his five sons.

At one point on the trip the dog defecated down the rear windscreen, prompting Mr Romney to pull into a petrol station and hose down both Seamus and the car before carrying on to Ontario.

The issue continues to weigh heavily with some voters, who see it as an example of Mr Romney's cold practicality, and an askance American media still demands answers to what is inevitably called "Seamus-gate".

In a high profile interview with ABC News last night, Mr Romeny was asked whether he would put the dog on the roof if given the chance to take the trip again. "Certainly not with the attention it's received," he replied.

His wife, Ann, tried to come to his rescue, telling Diane Sawyer telling that Seamus "loved it". But when pressed on the dog's sickness, Mrs Romney strayed into territory rarely visited by potential First Ladies.

"He ate the turkey on the counter," she offered as explanation. "I mean, he had the runs."

She insisted that Seamus loved his rooftop travel, saying he would "go crazy" when he saw it because it meant he was coming on holiday with the family.

The long-deceased Seamus continues to haunt Mr Romney's campaign. One dog-loving superPAC, entitled "Mitt is Mean", plans to spent $1 million publicising the incident and campaigning against the former Massachusetts governor.

Aides to President Barack Obama mischievously circulated a photograph of the Commander-in-Chief and his dog Bo sitting the back of a presidential SUV. "How loving owners transport their dogs," tweeted David Axelrod, Mr Obama's top strategist.

https://twitter.com/#!/davidaxelrod/statuses/164083085799981057

In one of the running jokes of the American political world, New York Times columnist Gail Collins is said to have developed a borderline obsession with the Seamus story, mentioning the dog more than 50 times in columns and interviews.

In a famous New Yorker cartoon cover, a grinning Mr Romney is shown driving the family station wagon with a haples Rick Santorum strapped to the roof.